North Korea's Lazarus makes off with $290M crypto in Kelp DAO heist after siphoning funds using fraudulent transactions

Date:
Tue, 21 Apr 2026 14:09:42 +0000

Description:
Lazarus Group tricked the system by taking control of some of the servers
used to verify transactions

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Pro Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Become a Member in Seconds Unlock instant access to exclusive member features. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are
now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Lazarus Group exploits LayerZero integration to steal $290M from Kelp DAO Attackers compromised servers verifying crosschain transactions, feeding false data to approve fake transfers LayerZero and Kelp DAO dispute blame The infamous North Korean
state-sponsored hacking group, Lazarus, has done it again. It successfully walked away with $290 million in cryptocurrency, after seemingly exploiting a Decentralized Autonomous Organization called Kelp DAO through a solution called LayerZero.

Kelp DAO is an organization that doesnt have central management, or a CEO.
All of the decisions are made collectively by members who hold governance tokens and vote on proposals. It was designed to allow users to earn yield on idle crypto investments. LayerZero Labs, on the other hand, builds infrastructure that lets different blockchains communicate with each other.
It is a vital part of the Web3 ecosystem, since different currencies operate on isolated networks. The DAO used LayerZero as a messaging layer between different blockchains. Article continues below You may like 'This is not an April Fool's joke': Crypto platform Drift suspends services after millions stolen Microsoft experts warn North Korean attackers are targeting macOS
users This dangerous North Korean malware has now split into three entities for maximum impact Shifting blame Lazarus Group apparently tricked the system by taking control of some of the servers used to verify transactions between blockchains. Then, they made fake transactions look real by feeding false
data into the system and forcing it to trust the compromised servers, which allowed them to steal the funds.

After the incident, LayerZero took to X to explain what happened. In an in-depth report which you can read here , it essentially said the attackers exploited Kelp DAOs setup.

We have conducted a comprehensive review of active integrations on the LayerZero protocol. We can confirm with confidence that there is zero contagion to any other asset or application, LayerZero said. This incident
was isolated entirely to KelpDAO's rsETH configuration as a direct
consequence of their single-DVN setup.

Kelp DAO, on the other hand, disagreed with the characterization that the incident was solely the result of its configuration. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

While the two organizations shift blame around, Lazarus celebrates another successful heist. The organization has, for years, exploited vulnerable Web3 projects, bridges and DAOs, to steal funds and finance North Koreas state apparatus and weapons programs.

Via TechCrunch The best antivirus for all budgets Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

Read our full guide to the best antivirus 1. Best overall: Bitdefender Total Security 2. Best for families: Norton 360 with LifeLock 3. Best for mobile: McAfee Mobile Security Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/north-koreas-lazarus-makes-off-with-usd 290m-crypto-in-kelp-dao-heist-after-siphoning-funds-using-fraudulent-transacti ons


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)